Thursday, July 12, 2012

El Telégrafo: "Bradley Manning case used by U.S. to put Assange on trial for espionage"

“With the aim of preparing the trial against the founder of WikiLeaks, in
charges of espionage, Washington has kept Bradley Manning in prison for two
years. He was locked in a windowless cell in solitary confinement, and forced
to sleep naked to prevent him of committing suicide.”

When Julian Assange explains the risk of being
extradited to the United States he always refers the case of Bradley Manning.
Assange says it can go with him just as it has happened with this American
soldier.

Manning has been two years and two months in prison,
facing 22 charges. He was arrested by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation
Command while he was serving in Iraq, accused of uploading confidential
information to the Internet.

Among the archives that he managed to declassify there
is a video showing a U.S. Army helicopter killing a group of civilians in Iraq,
including two Iraqi journalists working for Reuters -- which in turn caused
worldwide outrage.

Presumably, Manning is also [accused] of being
responsible for the leaking of secret documents about the wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq, texts Diaries christened the Afghanistan War. And of course, he is
also accused of spreading thousands of diplomatic cables sent from U.S.
embassies.

Since May 2010, Manning was locked in a windowless
cell; cut off from the outside world, and prevented of reading newspapers or
receive emails; not allowed going outside to walk and forced to sleep naked
every day, for seven hours, on the pretext of preventing an attempt to suicide.

"Manning's trial is conducted in secret. The
limited access by the press is controlled by the Military District of
Washington, which means the coverage is superficial or non-existent," says
Alexa O'Brien, American journalist that has followed the trial-sessions of
"United States versus Manning" since December 2011.

O'Brien admits that the degrading treatment that
Manning received - at least during the first 10 months since he was jailed in
Kuwait until he came to the military prison at Quantico - was aimed to break
him down and get his confession on that he would have consciously helped
Assange [Alexa
O'Brien to @professors blogg: "Manning
was transfered from Kuwait on July 29, 2010 and spent around 9-10 months at
Quantico, where he was tortured. He was moved to Fort Leavenworth on April 20,
2011] [1].That
would give the prosecution sufficient grounds to prosecute the founder of
WikiLeaks for the crime of espionage. Currently no charges have been filed
against Australian, but there is an open investigation against him.

This is corroborated by one of the representatives of the General Council Human
Rights Watch, Dinah PoKempner. The goal, she says, is to seek an indictment
against Assange.

PoKempner says that U.S. still has no incriminating evidence against Assange.
"The nasty calls for “pay-back” by U.S. public figures, including some
members of government, certainly give Mr Assange reasons for to be concerned,
as well as the abusive treatment that Bradley Manning has received while been
under military custody until this moment" said the activist.

Currently, several movements have been formed to support the young soldier. One
of them is "I am Manning" where one of its leading figures is Daniel
Ellsberg. Back in the 70’s, he exposed the Pentagon's classified files, and won
the case in court, because it was discovered the infringements of the
government of Richard Nixon by illegally wiretapping conversations, in what
later became known as Watergate.

But what is the difference between what happened with Ellsberg and what happens
with Manning and Assange?
O'Brien believes that the press during the 70’s was more independent than it is
now, while Billy Navarrete - of the Permanent Committee for the Defence of
Human Rights (CHR) - considers that there is no difference.

"States cannot hide their dirty deeds when they affect people's
fundamental principles. The principle of “treason” is overcome when the action
has meant the protection of human rights in all circumstances, including in
armed conflicts,” said Navarrete.

According to Navarrete "U.S. extended-power means that countries like
Sweden does not represent guarantee for Assange’s safety. He is currently the
number one enemy of the greatest world power. "

Notes

[1] Text and links below, courtesy of Alexa O'Brien

The day after the F.B.I.
partnered with the Defense Department and Department of State's Diplomatic
Security Service's joint investigation, Manning was moved from Camp Arifjan,
Kuwait to Quantico, Virginia, a 30 minute drive from the Grand Jury empaneled
in Alexandria. [LINK http://www.army.mil/article/43114/]

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